Missing Pieces
by GiorgiaKerr
Summary: Martin is late. Samantha is curious. D/M but from Samantha's POV. Oneshot.


**Spoilers:** Blegh. Mostly Samantha-centric, but essentially a Martin/Danny piece. Essentially as in, "That's how it originated."

**Disclaimer:** Never written Samantha's point of view before. Interesting.

**Author's Note:** Um… One of my few – and I mean _few_ – attempts to write from a woman's point of view. Any feedback on how I did would be appreciated!

* * *

Samantha was jumpy. Every time she heard a noise, her head would snap up, her body tense just so, her eyes widen. Which annoyed her because she was not a jumpy person; not at all. She was an FBI agent, trained, twice as stalwart as half her male colleagues. There really was no alternative; that she had learned early on.

But this morning was particularly… fraught. She was anxious, really, more than jumpy. Expectant and a little nervous.

Still, she smiled politely when Vivian returned from the first coffee-run of the day, handing her the drink she knew she shouldn't really have, but didn't really care.

"Thanks," she said, raising the paper cup to Vivian as she swiveled in her chair a little. It had occurred to her more than once that there should not be wheeled chairs around an entire building of people who consumed more caffeine than the civilian population of the entire East coast. She was surprised that all the window and hallways were still intact. Vivian's voice brought her out of that imagery and dragged her back into her previous anxiety.

"Have the boys come in yet?" she asked curiously, apparently wondering if she'd missed something. Samantha shook her head, a small frown creasing her brow. It was odd; more than that, it was annoying. There was an order to things around here. Who got coffee when, who arrived first, and who left last.

Jack was always first – despite being exempt from the coffee-running – then Vivian, then Martin. _Then_ Samantha, Elena and Danny – who, more often than not, moseyed casually into the bullpen at eight fifty-eight every morning. How he did it, she never did know, and had resigned herself to feeling distantly jealous of his inexplicable ability.

But that wasn't the point. The point was that Martin hadn't shown up yet. Samantha Spade – the orderly part of her she subconsciously allowed to do all her filing – was annoyed by the interruption of morning ritual. Special Agent Spade was intrigued, and a little frightened. Sam was just plain unnerved. Curiosity blended with irritation and worry to form the anxiety she'd felt ever since she'd walked in this morning.

Not in the six years that Martin had been at Missing Persons had their routine changed. Well, maybe a few times, but mostly that was her fault for not letting him out of her bed. Not that he had complained. Much.

Samantha still felt a little guilty for that relationship. Not just for the way it ended, but for actually _starting_ it. Despite Martin having a nice smile and being attracted to her from just about the beginning, she hadn't really wanted anything with him beyond a little fun. She had declined his invitation to "have drinks" with good reason. Good, _logical_ reason. Then, she'd gone and done possibly the least intelligent thing she'd done since having an affair with Jack.

She gave in to the increasingly needy female that she tried to push to the back of her mind. She had reasoned that it was possible that she and Martin would work, that she may as well try. _The sex wasn't half bad, either_.

Samantha just about hit herself for that thought. Sleeping with Martin had been… satisfying. But it was a replacement for what she really wanted; what she couldn't have. And Martin, the poor man, had never really known until _after_.

She shook her head and sighed at herself as Elena walked through the glass doors, half-smiling a hello; grinning as Vivian handed her a cup. "Thank you," she said, accent making the words sound more like a declaration of love than a greeting.

That left Martin and Danny. Jack was yet to make an appearance, but she knew he was locked away in his office, pouring over something or other with at least two cups of too-concentrated caffeine in his system.

She looked at the clock. Fifteen minutes before Danny was expected, and Martin still wasn't here. Elena and Vivian laughed heartily behind her, but she didn't bother turning around, instead not-so-subtly watching the doors.

Her mind ran amok with images of all the reasons that Martin could be late. None of them were particularly pretty. Even if Martin had have picked up a girl last night, he would never let that make him late. Hell, it took _her_ some very… interesting methods of persuasion to get him to stay, and she already worked with him. There was no way he'd let someone else do that. Besides, even with her, he'd never been this late.

As the worrying thoughts flitted unceremoniously through her head, a silhouette passed the windows, appearing with more clarity as the doors opened.

Danny.

He looked as elegant and self-possessed as ever, a smirk on his face that was all too familiar on Danny. He flounced into the bullpen, eyes all but sparkling, took his respective caffeine hit from Vivian, and gave the women a happy _good morning_.

An apparently _very_ happy morning for some, Samantha thought amusedly as Danny's I-got-some smirk stayed firmly in place. She was so amused that she almost missed the doors opening a second time, this time – _finally_ – producing Martin.

Well this was odd. Martin was officially the last to the office, even Danny beating him. She briefly wondered if there was something horribly wrong before she noticed the slight smile on his face; the familiar blush in his cheeks as all eyes turned to him.

The smile was familiar; it was like Danny had walked in all over again, and oh.

Oh.

That was new.

She looked quickly around the room as Martin walked in, depositing his bag by his desk on the way, to see if she was the only one who had made this connection. Elena seemed oblivious to any such business as she sipped her coffee quietly. But that was no proof; Elena didn't know Martin and Danny the way she and Vivian did.

With that thought, she looked to Vivian. And gained all the proof she needed.

Vivian was not bothering to hide the smirk that lit her face – amused, but definitely, genuinely happy – as she watched the two men. It was her _a mother always knows_ smile. One she wore far too often for Samantha's liking. But the look Vivian was currently giving Danny was enough to make her follow Vivian's eyes.

He and Martin stood closely – well, closer than usual – heads bent together, Danny's smirk growing as Martin seemed to get redder.

And wow.

They were not really bothering with subtlety. Not that anyone outside the team would actually notice, she realized. It was a delicate shift; almost imperceptible but it was there. And her head was still reeling a little.

It wasn't like she hadn't wondered about Danny; he flirted with anything that had twenty-three pairs of chromosomes. Men, women, teenagers, nonagenarians, housewives, frat boys.

But Martin...

There had never even been a _question_ with Martin. He was about as straight as a man could be. Or so she'd thought.

And the two of them together… _that_ she'd thought about before. But those thoughts usually involved her as well – something she would never, ever admit to anyone. Ever. She'd never considered herself a particularly sexual person until the night she actually considered inviting Danny home with her and Martin. And that was a rather blunt awakening. Of course she was a little attracted to Danny – the man _walked_ sex – but the actuality of it had never left her head.

Until now.

The term _fuel to the fire_ popped mockingly into her head as she watched Danny's hand brushed Martin's thigh. She started, shaking herself physically as Jack wandered into the room purposefully. Martin shifted a little, attempting to distance himself stealthily from Danny, who noticed instantly, and was having none of it. He grabbed Martin's forearm and muttered something – what she assumed was a threat – into his ear that caused Martin's face to turn an incredible shade of pink while he glared at Danny in warning.

She could only imagine the dirtiness Danny was capable of when he was really trying.

Danny just grinned as they all moved automatically to the conference table and Jack pinned a picture of a smiling teenager to the board. He spared each of them a glance before he began, his gaze pausing just a second longer on Danny and Martin, who were still sitting a little closer than usual. The only indication he gave that he noticed anything was a tiny flicker of amusement in his eyes before he began.

* * *

Okay, being a girl on paper got much easier as that went along... despite the fact that I _am_ a girl...

Oh well. Hope you liked!

Giorgia


End file.
